OAKWOOD, Ga. — No. 5 Cherokee Bluff quickly cooled down the Hot Gates of Sparta Friday night at West Hall.
The Bears (6-0, 1-0 Region 8-3A) racked up 439 yards of offense en route to the 41-14 win over West Hall (4-3, 0-2 Region 8-3A). The Bears led 31-0 at halftime.
Brooks Brien and the offense had an efficient first half. He completed seven of his 12 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown in the first half, and he was 17-of-25 for 288 yards on the night.
The Bears came out firing, scoring on all five drives in the first half, opening with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from senior wideout Kaden Thompson and closing out the half with a 1-yard rushing touchdown from senior quarterback Brooks Brien.
Thompson hauled in six passes for 134 yards and two touchdowns. He also had one rushing touchdown.
Bluff's defense mauled the Spartan offensive line, preventing them from getting anything going in the run game. The Bears held the 3A rushing leader to 32 yards in the first half. Hayes finished the night with 83 rushing yards.
The Bears went into the half with 293 total yards of offense compared to the Spartans' 73.
Bluff kicker Garrett Hyder booted two 36-yard field goals and was perfect on extra-point kicks.
It was much of the same coming out of the half.
The Spartans were able to string together a couple of successful drives late in the third and fourth quarters, courtesy of senior running back Elijah Hayes breaking lose for a 31-yard TD and sophomore wide receiver Shaka Rorie hauling a wild 68-yard pass for a touchdown.
West Hall travels to take on Oconee County next week, and Cherokee Bluff takes on Monroe Area. Both games are set to kickoff at 7:30 p.m.
